2019 Winning Project: Magic City Junior Chefs
The 2019 winning project was the Magic City Junior Chefs team which was made up of the following team members:
-Chris Hill (Spire)
-Mary Wallace Hannon (Regions Bank)
-Crystal Maxena (Vulcan Materials)
-Irving Jones (Balch & Bingham)
-Craig Lawrence, Jr. (Adams and Reese LLP)
When the team first met, each team member, in a somewhat unexplainable way, was drawn to Birmingham inner city schools. This team wanted to do something to encourage the next generation of professionals to pursue their passions. Through the process of molding the concept, with each step more ambitious than the last, the team was able to finalize their project, a cooking competition called “Top Chef Wenonah High School: Dragon’s Lair Edition”. On April 16, 2019, the Magic City Junior Chefs hosted three teams of three students from Wenonah High School’s Hospitality and Tourism Academy at the Southern Museum of Flight. The teams did not know what they would be cooking, so they were surprised to find out that the competition was around making crêpes!
The teams were judged by three well-accomplished Birmingham Chefs and emceed by Channel 13’s Eunice Elliott. Our distinguished panel of judges included:
-Chef Kristal Bryant of K&J Elegant Pastries
-Chef Dolester Miles of Highlands Bar & Grill, Botega, and Chez Fonfon
-Chef Kenneth Moore, Catering Manager and Instructor at The Culinary Hospitality Institute at Jefferson State Community College.
Please see below for pictures as well as a video of the event. Hats off to the Magic City Junior Chefs!
